This photographic collection is conformed by images that part from religious icons in order for them to be reinterpreted and updated according to popular culture, not without a necessary and adequate dose of irony, critique and eroticism. ¿Its purpose? To rejoice the spectator’s spirit through a photograph that, paradoxically, even with pagan elements does not lose its “sacred” quality.

This photograph depicts a contemporary version, from my point of view, of how Saint Francis of Assisi would be in our time and age. In it, both religious fetishism and sexual innuendo coincide with tattoos, piercings and leather culture, along with bleeding stigmata and the religious icons which characterize this saint.

This photograph depicts a uniformed schoolgirl in a pose that alludes the famous iconography of the Virgin of the Assumption (Which is also a word play, since a Catholic school for girls in Guatemala is named “The Assumption”). This highlights the underlying sensuality and youth of the girl, which would seem to contrast with society’s prejudice against tattooed individuals and its conception of what a “good woman” should be like.

SAINT SIMON (MAXIMÓN)Tryptic inspired by the tradicional Saint Simon from San Andrés Itzapa in Chimaltenango, Guatemala; a Mayan deity that has been syncretized with Catholicism; and mixing with the holy trinity; one is a “narco” version, one is a “hipster” version, alluding to the extremely materialistic interest of today’s society. The iconography in the photograph’s context varies according to each version.

SAINT DOMINGUITO DE VAL The blood libels or slanders are false accusations in medieval Catholic tradition, which stated that Jews ritualistically committed crimes using human blood from innocent Christians. According to popular belief, Saint Dominguito was an altar boy crucified by Jews for not wanting to deny Christ, thus dying as a martyr. In this photograph recreated the supposed martyrdom of the child saint, stating a critique against those stories that are still taught to children today by the Catholic church, causing fear more than faith and devotion.